


Captains and Catnip

by JaneyKatherineHummingbird



Series: Star Trek Reader Inserts [49]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Cats, Established Relationship, F/M, Shapeshifting, love of catnip, panther! Jim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 16:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14000478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneyKatherineHummingbird/pseuds/JaneyKatherineHummingbird
Summary: It takes a lot of patience to deal with James T. Kirk, but when he’s in panther form, only one person can manage him—you.





	Captains and Catnip

Shapeshifter Jim

“Jim? Jim, honey, please come down. We need to get back to the ship.”

The large black panther perched in the tree above you sniffed, turned up his nose, and remained unmoved. Oh, dear. He was in a stubborn mood. 

“Captain, your presence is necessary to safely return to the Enterprise,” Spock entreated. “I implore you to descend from your perch and allow us to take you to safety. 

“Grrrrrr!!” The panther hissed and bared his teeth, looking feral and menacing. Spock backed up a step or two and you sighed. It had been too long since Jim had shifted to his panther form and his mind was almost entirely feline right then. You’d have to resort to other tactics to get your boyfriend back. 

Rummaging in your first aid pack you pulled out the bait: a large catnip mouse. It was Cat! Jim’s favorite toy and hadn’t failed you yet, though Human! Jim refused to acknowledge this. 

Dangling the mouse in full view of the panther, you spoke in gentle, sing-song tones.

“C’mon, Jimbo. I’ve got your mouse.... you can’t have it unless you come down peaceably. 

Jim’s ears twitched and his tail began to flick back and forth, eyes following the mouse as you waved it back and forth. At last he scampered down from the tree and began stalking towards you, eyes on the prize. 

“Scotty, three to beam up. And one Feline Captain.” 

“Aye, Aye, Lieutenant,” Scotty answered with a chuckle. “Bout time he had a shapeshift.”

Just as you dropped the mouse and Jim pounced on it, the transporter beams took you and you, Spock, Uhura, and The Captain In Golden Beams. 

When you arrived on the Enterprise, Jim was holding the mouse in his teeth and growling at doctor McCoy, who was attempting to approach him to make sure he’d shifted properly. 

“Settle down, Jim,” he told the panther. “I’m not going to take your catnip. Just need to make sure you’re all together.” 

The cat stared for a minute, then relaxed and allowed the CMO to approach. 

You breathed a sigh of relief, knowing this meant Jim’s human mind was coming back. 

“It all checks out,” McCoy said after checking the tricorder. “You’re good to go.”

He furtively slipped you a hypo to give Jim. It would help ease the pain of his imminent change back to human. 

“Let’s go, Captain,” you coaxed. “If you come willingly, I’ll give you a nice scratch behind the ears.”

Jim’s aforementioned ears picked up and he padded softly off the platform behind you, still clutching his toy in his mouth. It would make such good blackmail material, if the whole ship didn’t already know what Kirk was and was so loyal to and respectful of him. He was very regal and magnificent in his panther form: long sleek body covered in velvety black fur, delicate nose, powerful paws with lethal looking claws (which he’d only used on hostiles) and big yellow eyes that looked more blue the closer he got to shifting back to human. 

It had taken a lot for Jim to open up to you and allow you to see this side of him, but you’d finally convinced him that he shouldn’t be ashamed to show his other form because it really was amazing and you loved him the way he was. The two of you had developed a plan for dealing with panther Jim and so far it had worked quite well. You always accompanied him back to his quarters and petted him until he purred, then gently gave him his hypo and left him to sleep through the change. 

Jim’s big eyes stared at you over his cat toy as you typed in the code to his quarters and followed him in, locking the door behind you. Dropping the toy, he sat down and began washing his paws while you pulled the oversized pet cushion out that he curled up on. (If only human Jim was as fastidious about cleanliness as Cat! Jim.)

“You did great today, Jim,” you praised him, giving the promised scratch behind the ears. Jim’s eyes squeezed shut in pleasure and he flopped on his side on the cushion, purring happily. 

“Aww, I love you too, Jimmy,” you said affectionately after a few minutes of this, reluctantly pulling the hypo out of your pocket. 

“I’m going to give you the shot and let you sleep it off, okay?” 

Jim’s eyes looked a bit pleading, but he didn’t move a muscle as you administered the hypo. Whether Cat or Human, Jim could not stand the thought of ever hurting you and lay still through the whole process. 

Seeing him succumbing to the sedative, you gently squeezed his paw.

“Sleep tight, Jim. We’ll see you back on the bridge soon!” 

“Mraw!” Jim replied faintly and you left him to his slumbers, returning to your science station to begin going over data with Mr. Spock and report on the Captain’s condition. 

It was about two hours later when Chekov’s eager “Captain On the Bridge!” Call rant out and you turned your head to see Jim Kirk in all his golden, blue eyed, human glory stride back to the chair. Your heart skipped a beat and you looked up and locked eyes with him, glad to see he looked looked fresh and alert, not worn and haggard like he did after a particularly hard transition back to human form. He smiled at you with an gesture that indicated he planned on talking after shift and you gave him a thumbs up to let him know you understood. 

“What did I miss?” He asked, turning to Spock, who began reciting the facts about the away mission. 

“Not much Sir,” Uhura added. “We received a call from Admiral Archer who requested a return when you’re up to it and engineering reported a slight problem in power levels, which Scotty is working on right now.”

“Okay, Thanks,” Jim said and began reading reports handed to him by Yeoman Rand. 

There wasn’t much time left in Alpha Shift, so before you knew it, you were handing over your station to the Beta shift officer who relieved you and heading to meet Jim in the mess area. 

“Hey, Babe,” he greeted happily. “Thanks for helping me out today. Shifting back went great this time.” 

You accepted his welcoming hug and kiss gladly. 

“Happy to hear that, Jim. You remember anything?” 

“Only seeing that creature heading your way and pouncing on it and then you scratching me behind the ears.” 

He’d shifted to panther form in response to seeing the team threatened and had thoroughly beaten off the menacing creatures stalking them. “What else did I do?”

You grinned. “Went up in a tree, hissed at Spock, I lured you down with the mouse, We went back to the ship and you growled at Bones when he came up to check on you. Had to sweet talk you to get you calmed down. Don’t mess with Cat! Jim when he’s gnawing on his ‘Nip.” 

Jim’s face turned red and he buried his face in his hands. 

“Of course. I think I remember that. That stupid mouse.... kitty me is so obsessed with it it’s embarrassing. Bones will never let me live this down.” 

You chuckled and rubbed his back affectionately. 

“Oh, he won’t. But you were pretty awesome today and I love you, Jim.” 

Jim’s blue eyes were soft as he looked at you in appreciation. 

“I love you too, Y/N: with all my heart. You want to cuddle and watch a movie tonight? You deserve special treatment after being so patient with me.” 

“Throw in a foot massage and it’s a deal.” You countered. (Jim was great at foot massages and today your feet were very tired). 

“You’ve got it, sweetheart.” Jim said cheerily, with a flirty wink that made you blush. Oh, it was good to have human boyfriend Jim back.


End file.
